Here Be Monsters: Lark Harbour

There’s no shortage of strange stories from Newfoundland’s coast—but some are strange and true, at least according to the men who were there to see it. One such account comes from Lark Harbour, 113 years ago, when a fisherman named Josiah Levi Sheppard had an encounter with something he simply called a "Devil Fish."

 

It happened early one morning, in August, 1912. Josiah had set out for the fishing grounds with his brother Henry in a motor boat. After a slow start off Wee Bauld, they decided to try their luck off French Island. Josiah had about half a quintal of cod in his dory, which they towed behind the motor boat to the new spot.

Once there, Josiah got back into the dory. His brother slacked him out about 200 yards astern. He was just getting ready to fish when something enormous surfaced beside him.

According to Josiah, the creature raised its head over the side of the dory and looked directly at the fish in the bottom of the boat—then at him. Without warning, it grabbed hold of the dory and disappeared below, flipping Josiah into the sea.

He screamed. His brothers cut the motor boat free and raced to him. They found the dory floating upside down, and Josiah clinging to it, soaked and shaken. He survived—but barely.

When they hauled the boat aboard, they saw the damage: teeth had punched clean through the wooden plank, leaving a bite mark nearly two and a half feet wide.

Josiah described the creature as having a gaping mouth—about four feet across—large, unblinking eyes, a black back, and a pale underside. He was certain it wasn’t a shark; it didn’t need to turn to strike and moved in a way none of them had seen before.

Headline, Western Star, August 28, 1912

The papers called it a “devil fish,” the old name for giant squid. But Josiah never mentioned any tentacles — and he wasn’t sure, what he’d seen.

Maybe it was a squid.

Maybe it was something else. Something stranger.

Something that still lives out there, beneath the chop and swell of the cold Atlantic, waiting for the next quiet boat… and the next quiet morning.

• Sources & Further Reading

  1. Reminiscent of Bygone Days, Western Stare, March 8, 1946

  2. Attacked by Devil Fish, Western Star, Aug 28, 1912

Here Be Monsters

On Newfoundland’s foggy coast, not everything strange is imagined—and not everything real can be explained.

The Here Be Monsters series dives into historical sea monster sightings reported in Newfoundland’s headlines — real accounts from people who lived and worked on the water. These stories may not all point to undiscovered creatures, but they remind us that even in well-known harbours and fishing grounds, the sea still has its secrets. And those secrets can surprise, unsettle, and leave even the most seasoned mariners with more questions than answers.